Prerna International School, Vihirgaon Nagpur

Subject : Physics Project list and Practical

Note: Students , list of projects is given below. You have to choose any one project
from the list and make it according to cbse rules (It should include index,
acknowledgement , certificate and all).It is compulsory for all the students.

Submission date will be before diwali vacations.

Suggested Investigatory Projects

1. To study various factors on which the internal resistance/EMF of a cell depends.

2. To study the variations in current flowing in a circuit containing an LDR because of a

variation in

(a) the power of the incandescent lamp, used to 'illuminate' the LDR (keeping all the
lamps at a fixed distance).

(b) the distance of a incandescent lamp (of fixed power) used to 'illuminate' theLDR.

3. To find the refractive indices of (a) water (b) oil (transparent) using a plane mirror, an
equiconvex lens (made from a glass of known refractive index) and an adjustable object
needle.

4. To investigate the relation between the ratio of (i) output and input voltage and (ii)
number of turns in the secondary coil and primary coil of a self-designed transformer.

5. To investigate the dependence of the angle of deviation on the angle of incidence

using a hollow prism filled one by one, with different transparent fluids.

6. To estimate the charge induced on each one of the two identical Styrofoam (or pith)
balls suspended in a vertical plane by making use of Coulomb's law.

7. To study the factor on which the self-inductance of a coil depends by observing the
effect of this coil, when put in series with a resistor/(bulb) in a circuit fed up by an
A.C.source of adjustable frequency.

8. To study the earth's magnetic field using a compass needle -bar magnet by plotting
magnetic field lines and tangent galvanometer.
Experiment no. 9

Aim
To find the value of v for different values of u in case of a concave mirror and to find the focal length.

Materials Required
Following are the materials required for this experiment:

An optical bench with three uprights, concave mirror, mirror holder , two optical needles , knitting
needle, half-metre scale

Theory
We use mirror formula for the determination of focal length.
Mirror formula is given as:

= +

Ray Diagram

Procedure
To determine the rough focal length

1. Place the concave mirror in the mirror holder.

2. Take this mirror holder outside and face the mirror towards a distant building.
3. The image of the building is obtained on a wall which is painted white. Move the mirror
forward and backwards to obtain a sharp image on the wall.
4. The rough focal length of the mirror is equal to the distance between the mirror and the wall.

To set the mirror

 1. The placement of the fixed upright should be near zero ends of the optical bench while the
other two uprights must be near the other ends.
2. Attach the mirror to the holder at the fixed upright such that the mirror faces towards the
other end of the bench and surface where it is perpendicular to the length.
3. To make the mirror surface vertical, use levelling screws.
4. At the base of the mirror upright, note the position of the index mark.

To set the object needle

1. Let O be the thin optical needle which is mounted on the second upright.
2. The object needle along with the clamp is moved 1.5 times to obtain a rough focal length of
the mirror.
3. To make the object needle and pole of the mirror horizontal, adjust the height of the object
needle.
4. Close left eye, open right eye to see an inverted and enlarged image of the needle such that
the tip of the image is at the centre of the mirror.
5. Record the index mark position at the base of the object needle.

To set the image needle

1. Attach the thick optical needle on the third upright and move it to the other end of the optical
bench.
2. To make the tip of the image needle and tip of the image inline, adjust the height of the
image needle by closing the left eye and opening the right eye.
3. To check if parallax exists, move the eye towards the right and see that the tips get
separated.
4. Remove the parallax tip to tip.
5. At the base of the image needle upright, record the index mark.
6. To determine the index corrections, all the index marks are to be recorded as observation 2.
7. Determine the index correction for the distance between the pole of the mirror, the tip of the
object needle and the image needle.
8. To get observations 2 and 1, move the object needle upright towards the mirror by 1 cm.
9. To get observations 4, 5, and 6, move the object needle away from the mirror by 1 cm.
10. Note all the observations.

Observations
The rough focal length of the given concave mirror = 15 cm
SR NO. Positions of uprights Observed distance 1/u 1/v f=uv/(u+v
Mirror Object Image U V
P O I (PO) (PI)
1 10 30.5 66.9 20.5 56.9 0.0488 0.0179 15.29
2 10 32.5 53.8 22.5 43.8 0.0439 0.0228 14.99
3 10 35.6 46.2 25.6 36.2 0.0391 0.0276 15
4 10 37.2 43.4 27.2 33.4 0.0368 0.0299 14.99
5 10 39.1 40.9 29.1 30.9 0.0344 0.0324 14.99
Calculations
Calculations of the focal length by graphical method
u – v graph is obtained by considering u on the x’- axis and v on y’ – axis. According to sign
conventions, u and v are negative. Using the observation table, plot different points for different
values of u and v. The graph obtained will be a rectangular parabola.
On either axis draw a line OA making 45° and meeting at a point A. Draw AB and AD perpendicular
on x’ and y’- axis. For point A, the values of u and v will be the same. The coordinates at A is (2f, 2f)
as u and v are same for a concave mirror when the object is placed at the centre of curvature.
Hence, u = v = R = 2f.

Explanation

 For u-v graph, suitable scale must be selected to represent u along the X’-axis and v along
the Y’-axis. Distances such as u1, u2,…. must be marked along OX’-axis and corresponding
distances such as v1, v2,…..must be marked along OY’-axis. To join u1 with v1 and other
corresponding points, straight lines must be drawn. All these straight lines intersect at point
K. KL and KM are the perpendiculars on X’ and Y’axes.
Then -f = OL = OM

Result
The focal length of the given concave mirror is determined from the following:

 Focal length is calculated as,

= -15cm
Precautions
 The uprights should be vertical.
 The principal axis of the mirror should be perpendicular while the central line of the optical
bench should be parallel.
 The eye should be at least 30 cm away from the needle to locate the position of the image.
 Tip to tip parallax should be removed between the needle and the image obtained from the
needle.
 The tips of object and image should be at the same height when compared to the pole of the
concave mirror.
 Index correction should be applied for u and v.

Sources of Error
 Parallax removed may not be perfect.
 The uprights may not be vertical.